We would also like here in Italy, as just announced in Francei free condoms for young people. The data of the last Durex Observatoryreleased on the occasion of the recent world day against AIDS, are in fact terrible: less than one out of two boys between the ages of 11 and 24 (46%) always use a condom. And the curve of those who ignore these devices is growing: in 2018, 57% of the sample interviewed claimed to use it. Contraception, in Italy, seems relegated to what it actually is Not is a method to avoid sexually transmitted diseases or unwanted pregnancies, i.e. the coitus interruptus: more than 35% believe it, wrongly, to be an effective method. Fortunately, awareness grows with age but the fact remains that the vast majority prefer to take risks.

The French proposal

The picture in France shouldn’t be too different if, after launching the free contraceptive pill for girls among 18 and 25 years old, President Emmanuel Macron just announced that 18-25 year olds will be able to pick up condoms for free in pharmacies.It’s a small revolution in prevention”, said the transalpine head of state. Condoms were already reimbursable on prescription. If anything, the only objection that can be made is that the 18-year threshold is too low.

In Italy, where until a few years ago these products were made they could not even be advertised freely (the authorization to which commercials and advertisements promoting them were subject was eliminated just two years ago, with a decree by the then Minister of Health Pierpaolo Sileri) it would be something more than a small revolution: it would above all be an invitation to young a take seriously an all too often mortified sex life. Although data has been declining for years, the highest incidence of new HIV diagnoses – only one of the infections that can be contracted – is found in the 30-39 age group (7.3 new cases per 100,000 residents), follow in the 25-29 age group (6.6 new cases per 100 thousand residents) due to unprotected relationships, children of a bad culture of safety evidently matured in adolescence. Overall, males account for 79.5% of newly diagnosed cases.

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It is a question in France, and it would be a question in Italy, therefore of working on the mentality. The element of the cost of condoms can obviously have an impact, even if it is not known to what extent given that youth consumption often proves to be contradictory. But more than savings, the idea of ​​transforming the free collection and use of condoms into what it is: a daily and routine activity of care for oneself and one’s partners.

Sex education in schools

Certainly this gratuity should proceed in pairs, in Italy given that in France it already happens (even if apparently it is not enough) with thesex education in schools. In our country it is in fact sporadic and entrusted to initiatives by individual institutes: just over half of the students involved (53%) say they have talked about sexuality, contraception and prevention in class and 35% of these say they have actually listened” things he already knew.” But the desire is there, and indeed it is a need considering that families basically do not exist (8% of the boys confide in it): 51%, again according to Durex, would like this teaching to be obligatory, 43% are optional and only 6% are against. The data reveal, unsurprisingly, that among those in the classroom who even had a superficial discussion on these topics, awareness of diseases and the use of condoms is growing: knowing helps us to risk less, to respect ourselves more and to live more serene experiences and free.

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On the contrary, whatever the orientation of the governments in office, on sexuality Italy continues to prefer an attitude that is dangerous for health and overall for people’s awareness and even the maturity of their respect for their partners: letting them grope in the dark the younger ones, complicate (until recently) the condom commercials by doing so turning them into taboo products, exclude any confrontation in educational settings on a fundamental sphere of identity. Starting with free condoms would be a good idea, just as it would be a good idea lower the VAT to 4% as promised in the budget law for baby pads and diapers.

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